nothin DeLauro Vows To Protect Small Biz $$ | New Haven Independent

DeLauro Vows
To Protect Small Biz $$

When two Yale professors set out to launch their own biomedical company in New Haven, they relied on a federal grant to help them pass through the Valley of Death” and quadruple in size. 

In a visit to New Haven Tuesday, U.S. Rep. Rosa DeLauro hailed the start-up as an example — and vowed to make sure the money keeps coming for small businesses to fuel innovation and create jobs.

U.S. Rep. DeLauro made the remarks during a visit to Molecular NeuroImaging, an 80-person company located on the ninth floor of 60 Temple St. She came to town to highlight the impact of the Small Business Innovation and Research (SBIR) program, a federal initiative that provides research funding grants of $150,000 to $1 million to companies of fewer than 500 employees.

The money for SBIR grants is set aside from government agencies that spend over $100 million on research. That includes the Department of Defense, the Department of Energy, the National Institutes of Health, Homeland Security, and NASA.

The program, which is nearly 30 years old, is up for reauthorization this year. It’s set to expire Nov. 18, said DeLauro.

During her visit, DeLauro hailed a reauthorization bill currently in the U.S. Senate, and criticized a version in the House. That version would open the grants up to big corporations, to the detriment of small businesses, DeLauro said.

Molecular NeuroImaging, which was started in 2000 by two Yale professors, works with pharmaceutical companies to help test new drugs by applying biomarkers” and making brain images to show the effect of drugs on the brain. The company works on medicines that treat diseases like Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s.

Molecular NeuroImaging has received several million” dollars over the years in SBIR money, said co-founder Kenneth Marek. That money has been essential to developing the company’s pharmaceutical-testing technologies from the idea phase to the market, he said. The grants have allowed the company to pass through the so-called Valley of Death,” the company’s development phase. Many projects flounder in that phase because investors are reluctant to fund them before they get established.

DeLauro, Seibyl, and Marek (left to right).

Marek and John Seibyl, the other co-founder, gave DeLauro a tour of a lab. They were joined by representatives of several other Connecticut companies that have received SBIR grants. The state’s 29 SBIR-grantee companies now employ 10,000 people, according to Merrie London, who reviews SBIR applications in Connecticut.

Molecular NeuroImaging has grown from 20 employees to 80, and continues to expand, Marek told DeLauro. The majority of new hires are young graduates from local colleges, he said. Many have limited experience” and receive on-the-job training, Marek said.

The company’s competitors are mostly outside of the country, from nations — like China — where tech companies receive government funding, Marek said.

We can’t let them eat our lunch,” DeLauro said. Back in a conference room, DeLauro assured company officials she will be working to bring more attention to the SBIR program and build support for the Senate version of the re-authorization bill.

As she left Molecular NeuroImaging to catch a train back to Washington, DeLauro said innovations coming from SBIR grantees could spur the next generation of manufacturing and job growth.

Sign up for our morning newsletter

Don't want to miss a single Independent article? Sign up for our daily email newsletter! Click here for more info.


Post a Comment

Commenting has closed for this entry

Comments

Avatar for wolverine

Avatar for Anstress Farwell

Avatar for Ellis Copeland

Avatar for Ellis Copeland

Avatar for HhE